Watermelon and Ricotta Salad Recipe:

If the combination sounds incredible, I won’t blame you for when I had heard of it first I thought quite the same myself. However, no sooner did I try my first watermelon salad with olives and cheese my doubts were put to rest forever. Often what appears to be the most improbable turns out to be most fantastic, and this one recipe is a perfect example to quote.

The contrasting flavours of sweet watermelon paired with the pungent salad rocket, soft depth of ricotta, richness of black olives, crunch of red onions and a generous drizzle of lemon juice, cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil makes it into a light, perfectly balanced summer salad. I almost gave out the entire recipe already but read on to find the measurements and step by step instructions and I can assure you if you make it once you’ll never stop making it every summer of your life….

Prawn and Couscous Salad Recipe:

The temperature is soaring in Delhi by the day, and we are now into the days when one does want to gorge but on fresh and light food only. While light food as you know is quite difficult given the awesome spicy curries that’s inherent to our Indian cooking, I just try (you’d better associate to the word ‘TRY’ if you’ve read my previous post) to keep my lunches light, fresh yet hearty.

Salads are simply the best summer lunch to me especially when I am alone or with my favourite girl friends. Salads come handy as we together stumble and crawl towards a lifelong mission (read half-successful mission) to eat healthy and low fat food as far as possible. So, this afternoon I made one such refreshing and wholesome salad lunch all to myself. Now, all you weight-watchers must try this ‘Prawn and Couscous Salad with a Vietnamese dressing’ recipe and tell me what do you think about it….

Crispy Sesame Tofu and Pasta Salad Recipe:

A healthy Sesame Tofu and Tagliatelle salad with a sweet, tangy and hot dressing.

The salad days are here and it’s now time that nothing but some refreshing salads would satisfy our appetite. Wonder if it’s just me or the scorching sun and heat leaves you too craving for light and fresh food, especially for lunches.

Salads serve to be my best bet, besides being both refreshing and light its helps me add healthy food to my diet. Now while summers are long here in our part of the world I keep playing with the ingredients and varieties for salad to ensure that I don’t get bored by the monotony of only raw-crunch-crunch. Adding some pasta or grilled meat or paneer or even better the tofu to the salads simply uplifts it by a notch and makes it more interesting and wholesome meal for the ravenous stomach.

Bean Sprout Salad Recipe:

This evening while mixing my healthy bowl of salad I was quite amusingly reminded of a scene from my childhood. Only about 10-12 years back I would make faces if I saw my mom doing a salad like that. How I detested “sprouts” and would look for a new excuse every time Mummy forced us to have them. But that was then, today I simply love sprouts, isn’t it amusing “’how our taste buds develop & change over time”.

I also had to keep Papa’s (in-law), he is here on a short visit, diet in mind while making the salad. He beside being a vegetarian is also on a restricted diet for he is a diabetic. So I had to look for gluten free, no sweet, low fat snack without compromising on taste of course and a bean sprout salad was my perfect solution. Our regular Indian way would have been to add chopped onion, tomatoes, cucumber, green chilies, fresh coriander, salt, lime juice, drop of mustard oil, toss and serve, I instead infuse different flavors and ingredients which works together into a tasty harmony. Mung sprout beans, cucumber and cherry tomatoes dressed up with some sesame oil, chaat masala (Indian spices mix) etc topped with cottage cheese instead of feta or cream, my favourite south-east Asian flavors. Here goes the complete recipe for my Bean Sprout Salad that i am quite proud of for it strikes the perfect balance between taste and health. …

Zucchini and Tofu Stir Fry (Thai Style) Recipe:

I had half of each yellow and green Zucchini leftover from my yesterday’s recipe of Zucchini Cheese Fritters and they needed to be used up before they lose their freshness. I don’t like to keep fresh fruits or vegetables in my fridge tray beyond two or three days, so I buy in small quantities and consume them in different recipes back to back. Well, today I also had in stock some Tofu, red bell peppers and a bottle of Thai red-curry paste, bought during grocery shopping early this month. That meant I had all the ingredients in place to relive my Thai experince of a spicy warm salad, so I prepared this easy and delicious recipe that on its own can be enjoyed as a warm salad or served as a side to the maincourse.

Recharge with a Punch of Freshness:

A busy day at work and lack of sleep the night before left me absolutely exhausted by the time I was home today. Oh, the lack of sleep was purely an upshot of the late night show of Vicky Donor yesterday. I totally enjoyed the movie right through the end; thanks to the script writer for giving us a new storyline in a comedy after ages. Annu Kapoor (the doc) was too good but he is a seasoned actor anyway, what impressed me more were the new actors Ayushmann and Yami Gautam, both acted like a pro and were very natural on screen. And I dare not forget Vicky’s true Delhi-Punjabi Mom & the cool Biji, they were both cute in their own ways and I loved the characters (especially when the saas-bahu duo sit together for their drinks at night 😉 .

Well for now i must try and find ways to recharge myself. What I really needed was a punch of absolute freshness. A quick shower followed by a fresh crunchy Salad and Lemon and fresh mint cooler was just what did the trick for me.